Indicator slips with blushed lacquer coating



A 4, 1959 G. FLOWER, JR., ET AL 2,898,112

INDICATOR SLIPS WITH BLUSHED LACQUER COATING Filed Sept. 1, 1954 E 5' as32 INVENTORS wiles FZOZIJQJ hfll Frederic/c WRobers Ric/ward .Rowe

United States Patent Ofiice 2,898,112 Patented Aug. 4, 1959 INDICATORSLIPS W IIH BLUSHED LACQUER COATING Guiles Flower, Jr., Darien,Frederick W. Roberts, Fairfield, and Richard G. Rowe, Redding Ridge,Conn., assignors to Dictaphone Corporation, Bridgeport, Conn., acorporation of New York Application September 1, 1954, Serial No.453,666

2 Claims. (Cl. 2741) This invention relates to dictating machines andmore particularly to an improved type of indicator slip for use inconjunction with dictating machines. The indicator slips of the presentinvention are particularly adapted for use with dictating machines ofthe type wherein recording is effected on a rotating endless belt orcylinder by a recording head that moves laterally along the belt orcylinder and thereby produces a helical sound track thereon and will beillustratively described as used with such a machine although as thedescription proceeds it will be apparent that the indicator slips can bereadily adapted for use with other types of machines as Well.

It has been customary for many years to mount a pad of elongatedindicator slips on such machines adjacent to the belt or cylinder and toprovide the recording head with a marking means capable of being movedinto contact with the top slip of the pad to produce a mark thereonadapted to convey certain information concerning the dictated matter tothe person who is to transcribe the record. For example, the slips maybe marked to indicate the beginning or end of a letter or memorandum orthe need for a correction. The effective length of the slip is usuallyapproximately the same as the width of the belt or cylinder so that theslip can be marked at any point throughout the operative range ofmovement of the recording head. In general there are two types ofsituations where indicating marks are required to convey information tothe transcriber namely, (1) the beginning or ending of a letter or otherdiscrete body of dictated matter and (2) the point at which a correctionis to be made, and it is desirable that the mode of mark ing theindicator slip be such as to differentiate clearly between the two typesof situations.

It is further desirable that the marking be effected without the use ofink since the marking device is used at relatively infrequent intervalsand it is thus difficult to maintain a proper flow of ink over anextended period of time. Moreover if ink is used the ink supply must bereplenished from time to time which is inconvenient. If on the otherhand a pencil or its equivalent is used there is a transfer of materialfrom the marking means to the indicator paper and eventual replacementof the pencil or its equivalent is necessary. Accordingly it isdesirable to provide for this service a paper that can be marked by theapplication of stylus pressure thereto and without transfer of materialsfrom the stylus to the paper.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved typeof indicator paper for use in a dictating machine indicator pad. It isanother object of the invention to provide an indicator paper of such atype that the relatively light pressure of a stylus will make a clearlyvisible mark thereon. It is still another object of the invention toprovide an indicator slip wherein 2 clearly differentiating markings canbe made by a single stylus to indicate distinct types of informationconcerning the subject matter being dictated. Other objects of theinvention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereafter.

In one of its broader aspects the invention comprises the utilization ofan indicator slip which is made of a coated paper of the type describedhereafter and which has a coating that is readly displaceable by lightstylus pressure to expose an underlying layer of a color that contrastswith the color of the coating on the paper. The many objects andadvantages of the present invention can best be understood andappreciated by reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates apad of indicator slips incorporating a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dictating machine showing therelative locations of the indicator pad and the cooperating stylus;

Figure 2 is a general perspective view of the indicator pad on anenlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a front View of the indicator pad broken away to show thelaminar structure of the indicator slips and more particularly of thetop indicator slip of the pad;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section through one of the indicator slipstaken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 but on a greatly enlarged scale andillustrating semi-diagrammatically the layers of which the indicatorpaper is composed; and,

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but illustrating a modificationof the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly Figure 1, the numeral 10designates a dictating machine comprising a rotatable mandrel 12 adaptedto support and rotate an endless plastic recording belt of known type,and a recording head (not shown) which is actuated in the usual mannerto move laterally along the width of the belt and thereby produce ahelical sound track in the recording belt. Located in the front of thelower portion of mandrel 12 there is a pad 16 of indicator slips, thetop slip'of which is positioned to be marked by a stylus 18 laterallymovable with the recording head 14.

To move the stylus 18 into contact with the top indicator slip of pad 16there is provided, at the front central portion of the machine, a pairof tabs 20 and 22. When the tab 20 is manually depressed the stylus 18is moved into contact with the lower portion of the indicator slip andis pressed against the lower portion of the slip to produce a markthereon. On the other hand when the tab 22 is depressed manually thestylus 18 is moved into contact with the upper portion of the indicatorslip to make a mark thereon. As shown in Figure l the tabs 20 and 22 aremarked with the letters C and L respectively and thus tab C is intendedto be pressed to make a mark indicating that a correction is required,whereas tab L is intended to be depressed to indicate the beginning orend of a letter or the like. The mechanism whereby the tabs 20 and 22actuate the stylus 18 forms no part of the present invention and may ifdesired be of the type disclosed and claimed in Gillette and Pien'niapplication, Serial No. 435,802, filed June 10, 1954, now Patent No.2,820,639, issued Jan. 12, 1958.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings, the inv gressed in therecording medium and a series of boxes 26 in which the name of thedictator, date, etc. can be inserted. There is also provided on thesurface of the indicator slips two elongated blank spaces 28 and 313which at their light margins are designated L and C respectively tocorrespond to the letters L and C on the tabs 22 and 20. The space 28 isintended to receive the stylus markings relating to the beginning andend of letters and the space 39 is intended to receive stylus markingsthat indicate the need for correction in the dictated matter.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, each of the indicator slips has alaminar structure and comprises a paper base 32 having two elongatedparallel bands 34 and 36 of colored ink printed thereon. The color bands34 and 36 are preferably of different and contrasting colors and may beformed of conventional nitrocellulose base inks.

Overlying the color bands 34- and 36 there is a thin plastic film 38which may be conveniently made of, for example, cellulose acetate. Thetop or outer layer 40 of the indicator slip is made of a blushednitrocellulose film which is prepared and applied in a manner describedin detail hereafter. The blushed lacquer provides a white opaque surfaceon which the indicia shown in Figures 2 and 3 can be readily printed byconventional printing techniques. Moreover, the blushed coating is ofsuch a character that it can be removed by the stylus 18 to rendervisible portions of the color bands 34 and 36. The film 38 is notremoved by the stylus but it is transparent and therefore the underlyingcolor layers are visible therethrough.

The manner in which the stylus removes the blushed coating isillustrated in Figure 4 wherein the numeral 42 designates the channelformed in the blushed lacquer coating when the stylus passestherethrough. In viewing Figure 4 it should be borne in mind that thisfigure is on a greatly enlarged scale and that the thicknesses of thedifferent layers are not necessarily shown in their correct relativeproportions. For example, in a typical indicator paper the thickness ofthe paper base might be from 30 to 50 times as great as the thickness ofthe coating thereon.

It has been found that in order to secure an effective removal of theblushed lacquer coating 40 by a shearing action, the blushed coatingshould have a composition dlfferent from that of the immediatelyadjacent and underlying plastic layer. Thus it has been found that ifthe blushed nitrocellulose coating 40 is applied directly to thenitrocellulose base ink 36, a clean shearing of the blushed lacquercoating from the indicator slips cannot readily be attained. Inaccordance with the present invent1on this difficulty is overcome ineither of two ways. Thus as shown in Figure 4 a lacquer overcoat orintermediate plastic film 38 having a composition different from that ofthe blushed coating can be introduced between the color layer and theblushed coating. Alternatively, as indicated in Figure 5, the colorlayer can be made of a cellulose acetate base ink and the blushednitrocellulose coating applied thereto so that the blushed coating willbe readily removable from its underlying layer by shearing action of thestylus 18. The use of different plastics for the blushed coating and theplastic film to which it is applied is an important feature of thepresent invention.

In order to point out more fully the nature of the present invention,the following specific example is given of a method of preparing theindicator slips of the type generally described above: The base paperused was a bleached kraft having a weight of 60 pounds per ream and athickness of approximately 3.4 to 3.5 mils. Two spaced color bands wereformed on this base paper by rotogravure printing, using nitrocellulosebase inks to give red and black bands 34 and 36 respectively.Thereafter, the color bands and exposed adjacent portions of the basepaper were covered with a cellulose acetate lacquer to form thereon acellulose acetate layer having a thickness of about 0.0002". On thiscellulose acetate film a blushed lacquer coating was formed by applyingthereto a lacquer having the following constituents in the indicatedproportions.

Components: Parts by weight Nitrocellulose /2 second 14.4 Aroclor 12602.5 Tergitol TMN 650 2.5 n-Butanol 4.8 Acetone 382.8 Xylene 96.0Distilled water 70.4

In the foregoing formulation Aroclor 1260 is the trade name of a mixtureof chlorinated diphenyls having a boiling range of approximately 385 to420 and Tergitol TMN 650 is the trade name for a wetting agent which isa trimethylnonyl ether of a polyethylene glycol. The lacquer thusprepared was applied to the cellulose acetate film of the indicatorpaper by spraying in the usual manner and drying. Due to the presence ofa substantial amount of water in the formulation, the lacquer when dryhad a chalky or blushed appearance and thus provided an opaque whitefinish covering the underlying color band. The thickness of the blushedlacquer layer was about 0.001" and its physical properties were suchthat the indicia illustrated in Figure 2 could be readily printedthereon. It was found that the resulting blushed coating could bereadily and completely removed by relatively light stylus pressure andthat the thus exposed portions of the underlying red and black colorbands exhibited excellent contrast both with the blushed layer and witheach other.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the presentinvention provides an indicator pad and paper capable of achieving theseveral objects outlined at the beginning of the present specification.Since the plastic of which the coating is formed differs from theplastic of the layer to which the coating is applied, ready removal ofthe blushed coating by light pressure of the stylus is obtained.Moreover, by providing separate color bands of contrasting colorsselective operation of the tabs 20 and 22 causes the stylus to producemarks that are clearly differentiated and confusion on the part of thetranscriber is thereby avoided.

It has been further found that coated papers prepared according to thepresent invention, although readily marked by stylus pressure, areabrasion resistant in the sense that the coated surface is not marred bythe contacts it receives during normal handling. For example the paperis not marked even when creased in a normal manner. Moreover, thecoating is resistant to discoloration by exposure to heat, light andmoisture within practical limits. A still further advantage of thepresent paper is that its coated surface can be written on legibly witha fountain pen, ball-point pen, or a soft lead pencil at normal writingpressures.

It is of course to be understood that the foregoing description isintended to be illustrative only. For example, the illustrative lacquerformulation for the blushed coating includes a quantity of water tocause the blushed effect to be produced as the lacquer dries. However, ablushed effect can also be produced by using a conventional lacquer andpassing a stream of wet air over the lacquer film to evaporate thesolvent therefrom. Also different types of inks and plastics can be usedthan those specifically disclosed, and the solvents and proportionsemployed can be varied. Other modifications within the scope of theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. An indicating medium for use in a dictating machine of the type thatincludes a rotatable record support adapted to; support a sound record,and a manually operable marking device having a marking stylus adaptedto be mounted for movement with a sound recording head movabletransversely of said record to form a continuously curved sound trackthereon, said marking device having stylus actuating means connected tosaid stylus and adapted to be selectively operated to force said stylusagainst selected side-by-side spaced areas of said indicating medium toindicate on one of said areas the termination of a body of dictatedmatter and on the other said area the existence of a correction in thedictated matter, said indicating medium being a pad of elongated slipsof paper adapted to be mounted in said machine with the surface of thetop slip of said pad confronting said stylus and with the long dimensionof said pad substantially parallel to the path of travel of said stylus,each slip of said pad having a base comprising two differently coloredstrips extending in side-by-side relation length-wise of said slip and ablushed lacquer coating overlying the colored strips of said base.

6 2. An indicating medium according to claim 1 and wherein said coloredstrips have color layers composed of pigmented cellulose ester, saidblushed lacquer coating is formed of a cellulose ester, and thecellulose ester of the color layer is difierent from the cellulose esterof the blushed lacquer coating to facilitate removal of said blushedcoating by said stylus.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,002,058 Hano Aug. 29, 1911 1,761,078 Kalada June 3, 1930 1,843,947Ellery Feb. 9, 1932 2,072,055 Lucarelle Feb. 23, 1937 2,154,269 GramannApr. 11, 1939 2,299,991 Kallock Oct. 27, 1942 2,628,841 Dann et al. Feb.17, 1953 2,637,557 Stone May 5, 1953 2,686,676 Rowe et a1. Aug. 17, 1954

